


Blue

by imma_redshirt



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din Being A Dad, Gen, allusions to prequel trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28589559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imma_redshirt/pseuds/imma_redshirt
Summary: Something frightens Grogu. Din doesn't understand it, but he tries to help as best he can.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 120





	Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Was just thinking about how Grogu *might* have seen Anakin in the Jedi temple after Order 66 and how blue lightsabers might not be his favorite things for a while.
> 
> Occurs sometime after the episode where Din and Grogu meet Ahsoka.

The sun was already setting by the time Din and the kid returned to the _Razor Crest_. The waning light cast long shadows across the ship’s damaged hull, and a chill wind blew, sending dead leaves swirling around the edge of the lowered ramp. Din paused at the edge and looked out over the field they had just crossed, arms full of provisions. At his side, Grogu hefted a small box of packed ration bars and looked up at the bounty hunter with a curious gurgle.

Din looked down at him and sighed.

“Guess I’m working by the light of the glow stick again tonight,” he said. Grogu’s ears lowered in sympathy. 

They had made their shaky landing on the planet of Lindrin IV just around midday and traveled into the nearest settlement for supplies. The ship had needed repairs and their food had been low, and Din had hoped to gather the necessary items with enough time to repair the ship before nightfall. But the merchant of the only junk shop in town had been a tough negotiator. It had taken much longer to get the parts Din had needed. The food merchants at least had been easier to deal with, and they’d left the settlement with enough food to last them until their next stop. 

But they’d returned to the ship later than Din liked. He’d wanted to work on repairs with the sun still up and leave as soon as possible. He couldn’t wait for sunrise, though. So working by the light of a glow stick it was.

He settled the provisions in the cargo hold, set his tools and the over priced scrap metal he had bought off to the side, and then turned to Grogu. The little guy had pushed the box of ration bars onto a low shelf and was halfway done with one bar when Din looked at him. With a determined chirp, Grogu set off down the ramp with the bar in his mouth.

“Oh no,” Din said. With two strides he’d caught up to the kid. He picked him up. “I know you want to help. But night’s falling and it’ll be too cold for you. You’re going to bed. Got it?”

Grogu made a noise of protest.

“It _is_ your bedtime, anyway,” Din said. He strode up the ramp, the kid settled securely in the crook of his arm. “And it’ll be a lot cozier than sitting out on a cold ramp all night. Trust me.” 

He sat Grogu on his hammock and tucked the pale blanket around him. Grogu, now done with his ration bar, untucked one arm from the blanket and gestured pleadingly at the ramp.

“No,” Din said. He rearranged the blanket. “Bedtime. I’ll let you help me next time. Okay?”

After a moment, Grogu hummed and settled back into the hammock. And as much as he had protested, the kid’s eyes slid shut almost immediately. Din chuckled to himself. He smoothed a gentle thumb over Grogu’s brow, listened for the kid’s tiny snore, and backed out of the small alcove as the door slid shut. He wasn’t sure if Grogu was only pretending to be asleep, but it was fine--even then it would give Din some time to get repairs started before he had to put the kid to bed again.

He gathered the tools and parts from the cargo hold and began to walk down the ramp when he heard a small _thump_ from the sleeping alcove. He sighed and paused where he stood, shifting his weight to one leg as he waited for the door to slide open and the kid to toddle out, as usual.

He narrowed his eyes. The door didn’t open. Kid was taking a while. 

Then there was a small cry. Din dropped the supplies from his arms. He rushed to the door and it opened before he got there. With a tiny, frightened wibble, Grogu hurried forward and reached up with both arms.

“What is it?” Din asked. He lifted the kid and cast a quick eye over the alcove, cradling Grogu close. “What happened?”

Grogu babbled his strange baby language and tucked his face into Din’s shoulder. With a low whine, he lifted one hand and waved it in the general direction of Din’s sleeping bag.

“Is there something under there?” Din asked. He cursed himself, switched the small space’s light on, and flipped the bag over with his boot. Something could have gotten in when he wasn’t looking.

But except for the supplies he kept close at hand, there was nothing there.

“I don’t see anything,” he said. Grogu babbled something into his shoulder and then slowly peeked up at Din’s helmet.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Din asked. Grogu glanced at the sleeping bag and waved his hand again.

Had to have been a nightmare, Din thought. He sighed and kneeled next to the bag, setting Grogu on his knee. “Look, see? It’s just my sleeping bag. And some other stuff, I guess. Water canister. Caf mug--which has been empty for a while. Hmm. Polish. Glow stick and--”

When Din picked the glow stick up to set it aside, Grogu squeaked and hid his face again. 

“What, this?” Din said. “This is what scared you? It’s just a light. Needs to be charged, actually--”

The glow stick was on. The blue light was very dim in the bright light of the cargo hold, which might have been why Din hadn’t noticed it was on in the first place. He frowned and clicked it off, then clicked it on. It flared bright blue for a second before fading again. 

“Yeah, definitely needs to be charged,” he muttered. Grogu hadn’t lifted his face from Din’s shoulder, so Din nudged him lightly. “Hey. Look. Just a light, like I said. Watch.”

He flicked the switch. The pale blue flickered into a pale yellow, then a pale green, and a light orange. Slowly, Grogu turned to watch it, giving a curious coo as the colors changed. 

Outside, the sun had sunk further. Din stood and settled Grogu in the hammock again, and turned the alcove's light off. By now Grogu had taken the glow stick in his hands and was watching the light flicker between colors, ears twitching with each new hue. With the light off, the glow stick was much brighter. Din chuckled.

“See? Not scary at all,” he said. Grogu burbled in response and held the glow stick closer. The kid was mesmerized.

“You hold on to that,” Din said. “I’ll go start on those repairs. And I’m going to close the door now, so don’t--”

The glow stick switched to it’s original blue. Immediately Grogu’s ears sank and he dropped the glow stick with a distressed sound, pulled the blanket up over his head, and curled as far as he could into the hammock.

“Hey,” Din said. He bent to pick the light up and switched it off, frowning. “Is it the color? Blue?”

Grogu babbled something from the refuge of his blanket.

“It’s ok,” Din said. It was strange, but he wasn’t going to question it--not yet. Not until he could find someone who could relay whatever his son was saying to him, like Tano had. He still understood so little about the baby he had been sent to kill so long ago, but even so--he wasn’t going to let anything make the kid uncomfortable. “Look. I’ll get rid of the blue. How about that?”

A moment passed. Grogu lowered the blanket from his face and blinked up at Din.

“Watch.” Din changed the settings in seconds and slowly handed the glow stick back to his son. Grogu watched it cautiously. “It’s ok, I fixed it. No more blue. You can take it.”

Grogu cooed and sat up but didn’t take it. He made a curious sound.

“It’s not going to hurt you,” Din said. He reached out and took one small hand in his own, thumb pressing comfortingly on the tiny fingers. “I’m not gonna let anything hurt you. Okay?”

He held the glow stick out again and released Grogu’s hand. Ears tentatively perking up, the kid took the glow stick and switched it on.

It shimmered green, orange, yellow, purple, and then the cycle started again. No blue. With a happy hum, the kid reclined back and watched the lights with wide eyes.

With relieved chuckle this time, Din backed out of the alcove again. “Ok, I’m going to go now. I’ll be right outside. Okay?”

Grogu lowered the glow stick and stared at him. He seemed at ease now at least, but his pleading eyes made Din shake his head.

“No. You’re staying here, and I’m going. I mean it this time.”

Grogu blinked.

“I do. I mean it.” Din said. He turned but didn’t shut the door. He could feel his son starting at the back of his helmet. 

He sighed.

\-----------------------------

“Hold it a bit higher, so the light’s on the spanner--that’s right, good job!”

Grogu’s happy coo was muffled by the blanket that had been tucked up nearly to his eyes. His arms were almost immobile with how his father had wrapped the warm material around him, his ears folded under the makeshift hood Din had fashioned from the end of the blanket, but he was still able to hold the glow stick up just enough for the pale light to add to the glow from the stronger light Din had hung from the hull.

The wind blew. Leaves scattered about. Din shivered in his armor, but the chill didn’t touch the kid as he held the glow stick up and watched the colors cycle against the night sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
